Wrist Watches

Elizabeth I of England received a wristwatch from Robert Dudley in 1571, described as an arm watch. From the beginning, wrist watches were almost exclusively worn by women, no self-respecting gentleman would be caught dead wearing a wristwatch. By the mid nineteenth century, most watchmakers produced a range of wristwatches, often marketed as bracelets, for women.Clearly, a market for men’s wristwatches was coming into being at the time. Officers in the British Army began using wristwatches during colonial military campaigns in the 1880s, such as during the Anglo-Burma War of 1885.